Bead-sewing machine



Nov. 17,1925- J. A. GROEBLI BEAD SEWING MACHINE Filed July 16, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 17 1925. "1,561,605

J. A. GROEBLI BEAD SEWING MACHINE Filed July 16, 1923 3 Sheds-Sheet 5 f wzffifi?" @Mu aria/mu:

Patented Nov. 17, 1.925.

UNITED PATENT. OFFICE.

JOSEPH A. GROEBLI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BEAD-SEWING MACHINE.

Application filed July 16,

To ail Uilfli/"L- it may concern:

Be it known that l, .l'osnri-r A, Gnonmli, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bead-Sewing Machines,- of which the following is a s gieoifioationq My invention relates to that class of bead sewing machines wherein beads loosely strung upon a thread are fed. along the thread, while the thread itself is carried forward; and my improvements are particularly directed to means for automatically controlling the tension and travel of the bead thread and the feeding of the beads so that the bead feeding shall cooperate with the progress of the thread in such away that the number of beads passing forward shall be appropriate for the amount of head thread required in the emhroidering operation, and any serious interruption in the movement of the heads will be at once called to the attention of the operative by a suitable alarm.

These improvements are advances in the art over what has been shown, for instance, in my Letters Patent No. 1,44%,764, of Feb ruary 20th, 1923; and the application of my present inventions will be readily understood by referring to my aforesaid patent for an illustration of those parts of the old mechanism which are not shown in the drawings of this application.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of mechanism illustrating my improvements; Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3 is an elevation of part of the mechanism looking from the side opposite to that shownin Fig. 1; llig. t is a detail looking to the left on Fig. 1. various parts being omitted for clearness; Fig. 5 is a detail of the reciprocating bead feeders, taken as looking to the left on Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a cross sectional detail, on an enlarged scale, of part of the rotating feeding mechanism, taken as on the line 66 of Fig. 2 looking to the right; Fig. 7 is a detail of the ratchet wheel and the serrated feeding drum, on the same scale as Fig. 6, taken on the line 77 of Fig. 6 looking to the right; and 8 is a detail of the alarm mechanism taken as looking to the left on Fig. 1.

In all the figures similar parts are designated by corresponding reference numerals.

The shafts 10 and 13 correspond respec- 1923. Serial No. 651,770.

tively to the shafts 10 and 13 of my aforesaid patent, and indicate means by which the operative power is transmitted to the feeding and stitch forming mechanisms. The shaft 76 corresponds to the shaft 76 of my aforesaid patent and indicates the means whereby the direction of fabric feed is controlled.

The functions to be performed by the tube 53 and its gear 121, tube 38 and its gear 37, and tube 95 and its gear 941 correspond to those of the parts similarly numbered in my said patent, although the arrangement of the parts has been slightly modified to the better accommodate my improvements in the mechanism.

From the driving shaft 10, tl'irough gears 11 and 12, shaft 14, and gears 15 and 16, connection is made with the shaft 17 through which the mechanisms for feeding the bead thread and the beads are actuated, and, also. through gears 18, 19, shaft 20 and gears 21, 22, and the connecting mechanism to tube 38, the looper is rotated.

The shaft 17 carries near its upper end a cam 25, against which travels a roller 26, on a cross arm 27, pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine.

The other end of the cross arm 27 is pivoted to a rod 28, which, in turn, is connected with an arm 29 carried by a shaft 30 mounted in a bearing 31 in the frame of the machine. The hub of the arm 29 carries another arm. 82, to which is attached a blade like member, 33, disposed transversely near the lower end of the bead trough 63. so that it may be raised and lowered past that end.

A sleeve 35 is mounted loosely on the shaft 30, and is provided with an arm 36 having an extension 39 disposed transversely of' the lower end of the bead trough 63, so that it may be raised and lowered relative to that end of the bead trough.

A collar 10, fixed on the end of the shaft 30, carries a laterally extended arm 41 which lies behind and near an arm 42 on the hub 35 loosely mounted on the shaft 30, so that the arm 29 and its connections may have a certain amount of free forward move ment before the arm ll encounters the arm 42 and carries it forward as the shaft 30 revolves.

The shaft 17 also carries a cam 45, against which travels a roller 46 on an arm 1-7, pivoted at 48 to the frame of the machine and to the arm 47 is pivoted a rod 4-9 the other end of which is carried by a pivot pin in the upper end of an arm 51 pivoted to the frame of the machine.

On the pivot pin 50 is a feed pawl 52 adapted to engage with a ratchet wheel 55 attached to a feed drum 56 which is journalled on a shaft 57 mounted in the frame of the machine. The pawl 52 is provided with a downwardly extended arm 58 provided with a pin 59, the functions of which Will be hereafter explained.

The rollers and 46 are kept to duty on their cams and to by a sprin 6i stretched between the arm 27 and the rod as.

To the rod i9 is pivotally connected, as through a block 6 1, a'djustably secured to the rod as by a set screw 65, another rod 66, the other end of which is supported by a link 67 pivoted on a rod 63 set in the frame of the machine; and the rod 66 carries a pawl 69 engaging with a ratchet wheel 70 mounted on a shaft 71, journalled in bearings in arms 72, 73 of a carrier 74, journalled on shaft 57, and provided with an arm 75 carrying a counterweight 76, normally adjusted to depress the arm 7 5.

On the end of the shaft 71 opposite to that on which the ratchet wheel 70 is fixed, there is mounted a feed wheel 80, preferably roughened or serrated the better to grip and feed forward the beads which travel over it, and then slide down the thread within the tube 53.

On the shaft 57 is pivoted an arm 77 provided with a downwardly bent or hooked end, which is adapted to cooperate with the pin 59 on the arm 58, so as to intercept the movement of the arm, when the hook is dropped behind the pin.

An extension 33 of the carrier'lt, also journalled on shaft 57, is provided with a pin 84c which extends laterally under the arm 77 so as to raise and drop the arm 77 when the carrier 74: is rocked on the shaft 57 A spring pawl 85 serves as a detent for the ratchet wheel 55.

Around the serrated feed drum 56 is mounted a guide casing 87 secured to the frame of the machine so that the drum 56 and ratchet wheel will revolve within it, and having a progressive, screw like, slot formed in it toward one end. This slot is wide enough to accommodate the beads, which come to the drum from the bead trough, and to allow them to lie against the surface of the drum. And as the serrations on the drum are continuous from the point of reception of the beads to the point where they leave the drum, the rotation of the drum within the guide casing will cause the beads, which are held against it by the bead thread, to be pushed alono' axially of the drum, and several turns OI he bead thread may be made around the drum without the successive loops fouling each other or the beads becoming entangled.

An arm 90 leans yieldably against the beads as they first begin their travel around the drum, attached to the short arm of a bar 91 journalled on the shaft 68. The other arm of the bar 91 engages, by means of a pin 92, beneath the hooked end of a rod 96, mounted to slide to and fro in suitable guides 97, 98 on the machines frame. This rod carries fixed plate 99, outside of which is fastened a spring member 100 adapted to lie normally against the plate 99.

On the shaft 101, which is part of the transmission line for turning the looper, is secured a tripping arm 102, which normally clears the spring 1.00 as the shaft 101 revolves, but, if the spring is lowered, so that its end lies in the path of the arm 102 will bend the spring away from the plate 99 allowing it to fly back and stop against the plate when the revolution of the shaft carries the arm free of the spring.

The operation of my improved mechanism is as follows The rotation of the shaft 17, through cam 25, roller 26, arm 27, rod 28 and arm 29 rocks the shaft 30, at regular intervals, for instance once for each stitch cycle, raising the arm 32 with its feed member 33 so that the latter shall press up against the thread 110, raising it slightly so as not to allow any beads to slide past the feed member 33. This movement progresses far enough to'intei cept the line of travel of the beads before the pin 41 engages the arm 42 and rocks up the bead arrester 39, the raising of which allows the line of beads to slide down along the thread until they are stopped by the feed member 33. The configuration of the cam 25 is such that its continued revolution allows the feed member 33 to drop and the bead arrester 39 to follow it until it engages against the bead which has slid down against the feed member 33 and holds back the others, when, the feed member 33, continuing to drop, frees the bead behind it and allows it to slide down the thread to the drum 56. As the arrester 39 is not positively forced againstor between the beads, but is simply depressed by its own weight or a spring, it is obvious that no damage will be caused to the beads by its operation, for if it does not accurately hit the space between two beads, it will simply rest upon one of them and thereby hold back the stream of beads until the next feeding cycle comes around.

The revolution of the shaft 17 also, through cam 45, roller l6 and arm 47, reciprocates rod 19 causing its pawl 52 to push forward the ratchet wheel 55 and feed drum 56 one step; while, at the same time, through the rod 66, the pawl 69 is caused to turn the ratchet wheel 70, shaft 71 and wheel 80 one step, the relative proportions and adjust ments of the parts being such that normally the surface movement of the wheel 80 shall approximate that of the drum 56. And, llliLSlllllQl'l as the thread is wrapped completely around the drum 56, one or more times, the draw upon it through the drum will be sufficient to give it a positive feed, without serious slipping of the thread through the beads; so that the thread will operate under a positive traction feed from the drum 56.

Normally the tension on the thread 1.10 below the feed wheel 80 is such as to keep the end of the carrier 74 in which the wheel 80 is mounted rocked down so that the hooked end of the arm 77 will be raised clear of the pin 59 of the arm 58, so that the pawl 52 will be held to duty on the ratchet wheel 55 and will feed the same forward with each stroke of the rod l9.

If, however, the thread 110 becomes slack, because, for instance, the stitch. mechanism is not taking up the thread as rapidly as it is unreeled, then the counterweight 76 will rock up the forward end of the carrier Tl,

causing the wheel to rise to take up the slack of the thread; and, if the slack is suiticicnt, the hook of the arm 77 will be dropped behind the pin 59, preventing the swinging back of the arm, so that, on the viaclmuird stroke of the rod 49, the pawl 52 will be raised clear of the ratchet wheel 55, and will cease to feed forward the drum until the slack of the thread has been taken up sulfa ciently to rock down the wheel 80 and release the pawl 52 to duty. The beads maybe thus fed forward at a rate corresponding with that at which they are applied to the embroidery; and the travel of thethread regulated to correspond quite accurately with the number of beads used in the work, so that a uniform quality of work may be produced by the machine, and defects due to surplus thread or irregular movements of beads may be avoided.

In the operation of the machine, if the stream of beads coming to the drum 56 should cease or be interrupted, so that there were no beads between the arm and the drum 56, then the arm 90 will swing forward toward or against the drum, allowing the alarm spring to slide down into the path of the arm 102, with the result that a distinct alarm will be sounded, and the op eratives attention will be thereby directed to the interruption of the flow of the heads.

I have illustrated my improvements as applied to a two thread machine, that is a machine by which the bead thread and beads are attached to the fabric by a second or stitching thread. But those familiar with the art will readily understand that the. invention is also applicable to single thread machines whereby the bead thread is made to act also as the stitching thread, such modifications being made in the proportions of the parts that more thread shall be normally fed forward for each stitchto providc for the thread necessary to form. the stitch.

I wish it also to be understood that the embodiment of my invention which ll have illustrated and explained in detail is to be regarded as typical and not exclusive. For it is evident that details of construction may be varied, as by the use of mechanical equivalents or the like, without departing from the spirit of my invention as described and claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is v 1. The combination, in a sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread with beads loosely strung thereupon, stitch forming means, and means for producing relative movements of the beads and thread, of positively acting means forfeeding the beads and thread while permitting relative movement of the beads and thread.

2. The combination, in a sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread with beads loosely strung thereupon, and stitch forming means, of intermittent-1y and. positively acting means for feeding the beads and thread while permitting relative movement of the beads and thread.

3. The combination, in a sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread with beads loosely strung thereupon, stitch forming means, and means for producing relative movements of the beads and thread, of positively acting common means engaging with and feeding the loosely strung heads and through the beads feeding the thread.

4. The combination, in a bead sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread with. beads loosely strung thereupon and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread and bead feeding means.

The combination, in a two threadbead: sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread with beads loosely strung thereupon and stitch forming means, of positively acting bead thread feeding means.

6. The combination, in a sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, thread supplying means and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread feeding means and means governed by the tension of the thread for automatically suspending the movement of such thread feeding means While the machine is running.

7. The combination, in a sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, thread supplymg means and stitch forming means, of lntermittently and positively acting thread feedingmeans and means governed by the tension of the thread for automatical- 1y suspending the movement of the thread feeding means while the machine is running.

8. The combination, in a sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread with beads loosely strung thereupon, stitch forming means, and means for producing movement of the thread relative to the beads, of positively acting thread and bead feeding means and thread tensioning means cooperating therewith.

9. The combination, in a sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread with beads loosely strung thereupon, stitch forming ,means, and means for producing movement of the thread relative to the beads, of positively acting thread and bead feeding means and thread tensioning and feed mechanism controlling means cooperating therewith.

10. The combination in a sewing machine embodying fabric feeding means, thread supplying means and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread feeding means, thread tensioning means, and means automatically controlled by such thread tensioning means for temporarily arresting the movement of the primary thread feeding means.

11. The combination in a bead sewing 11121-- chine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread supplying means and stitch forming means, of rotatable means for feeding a thread carrying loosely strung beads, such rotatable means being provided with means for preventing relative circumferential movement of the beads while permitting progressive lateral movement thereof and stationary bead guiding means cooperatively associated with the same.

12. The combination in a bead sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread supplying means and stitch forming means, of rotatable means for feeding a thread carrying loosely strung beads, such rotatable means being provided with means embodying a drum provided with a plurality of axially disposed grooves in its surface for preventing relative circumferential movement of the beads while permitting progressive lateral movement thereof and stationary bead guiding means cooperatively associated with the same.

13. The combination in a sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread having beads loosely strung thereupon, and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread feeding means, thread tensioning means, and a det-ent constituting means automatically controlled by such tensioning means for temporarily arresting the movement of the thread feeding means.

14:. The combination in a sewing machine,

embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread having beads loosely strung thereupon, and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread feeding means,

thread tensioning means, and means auto H matically controlled by such tensioning means for temporarily arresting the movement of the thread feeding means without interfering with the operation of the tensioning means.

15. The combination in a sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread supplying means and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread feeding means provided with disconnecting means, thread tensioning means, and means automatically controlled by such tensioning means for term porarily arresting the operation of the thread feeding means.

16. The combination in a sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, means for supplying a thread having beads loosely strung thereupon, and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread feeding means provided with disconnecting means, thread tensioning means, and means automatically controlled by such tensioning means for controlling such disconnecting means and thereby temporarily arresting the movement of the thread feeding means.

17. The combination in a sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread supplying means and stitch forming means, of positively acting thread feeding means provided with a feed pawl control constituting disconnecting means, thread tensioning means, and means automatically governed by such tensioning means and embodying a detent adapted to coact with said controlling means, for temporarily arresting the movement of the thread feeding means without interfering with the operation of the tensioning means.

18. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread and bead supplying means, stitch forming means, and thread and bead feeding means, of alarm means automatically controlled by the. movement of the beads through the machine before reaching their point of final separation.

19. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread and bead supplying means, stitch forming means, and positively acting thread and bead feeding means, of alarm means antomatically controlled by the movement of the beads past the positively acting means.

20. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread and bead supplying means, stitch forming means, and positively acting rotatable, thread feeding means, and thread and bead feeding means, of alarm means embodying a control member yieldably resting against the beads and automatically controlled by the movement of the beads past the positively acting means.

21. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, embodying fabric feeding means, thread and bead supplying means, stitch forming means, of a rotatable drum constituting positive y acting thread and bead feeding means, a control member consisting of an arm disposed over the line of travel of the beads, and audible alarm producing means governed by the movement of said arm.

The combination, in a bead sewing machine, of means for holding a supply of thread with loosely strung beads thereupon arranged to travel along the thread to an initial feeding point, reciprocating, driven feeding means disposed below the thread, and cooperating reciprocating feeding means disposed above the thread, and having a delayed movement relative to that of the first mentioned reciprocating means, thread feeding means, stitch forming means, and fabric feeding means.

23. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, of means for holding a supply of thread with loosely strung beads thereupon arranged to travel along the thread to an initial feeding point, reciprocating, posi tively driven feeding means disposed below the thread, and cooperating reciprocating feeding means actuated thereby and disposed above the thread, and having a delayed movement relative to that of the first mentioned reciprocating means, thread feeding means, stitch forming means, and fabric feeding means.

24. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, of means for holding a supply of thread with loosely strung beads thereupon arranged to travel along the thread to an initial feeding point, reciprocating, driven feeding means, disposed below the thread, and cooperating intermittently acting feeding means disposed above the thread, and having a delayed movement relative to that of the first mentioned reciprocating means,

thread feeding means, stitch forming means, and fabric feeding means.

25. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, of means for holding asupply of thread with loosely strung beads thereupon arranged to travel along the thread to an initial feeding point, reciprocating, driven feeding means, disposed below the thread, and cooperating intermittently acting feeding means disposed above the thread, and adapted to engage above and arrest the movement of a bead, thread feeding means, stitch forming means and fabric feeding means.

26. The combination, in a bead sewing machine, of means for supplying a thead provided with beads loosely strung thereon and slidable along the thread by gravity, a pair of reciprocating bead feeding elements, one thereof having a delayed movement relative to that of the other and adapted to engage above and arrest a bead, positively acting bead and thread feeding means, thread tensioning means, means controlled by the tensioning means for governing the action of the feeding means, means for producing an audible alarm, alarm control means governed by the move ment of beads past the positively acting feeding means, stitch forming means and fabric feeding means.

27. The combination, in a bead sewing machine embodying thread supplying means, beads loosely strung on a thread and sliding primarily by gravity, bead arresting means adapted to engage yieldably above a bead, positively actuated thread and bead feeding means, thread and bead forwarding means, means governed by the tension of the thread for automatically temporarily interrupting the operation of the positively actuated feeding means, means for automatically producing an alarm upon an interruption of the stream of beads past the feeding means, stitch forming means, and fabric feeding means.

JOSEPH A. GROEBLI. 

